Georgian Patriarch stands for ban on abortion in country

Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II is standing for a ban on abortion in the country. This is stated in his Christmas message to believers. It was read out at night at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi.

"A million abortions take place annually in Georgia according to the unofficial data and no one can stop it," the message said.

"Scientific progress today has created an ethical problem in the form of so-called 'test-tube babies'," the message said. "Surrogate mothers, cloning and in vitro fertilisation have appeared."